1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile robots, and in particular to a mobile robot system having a plurality of exchangeable work modules and a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a mobile robot means a robot which autonomously operates so as to perform a given work task, such as cleaning. Recently, among such mobile robots, cleaning robots, which can perform vacuum-cleaning, form a new market, the scale of which is increasing. In order to increase percent market share, various cleaning robots are being marketed which can perform various functions beyond basic vacuum-cleaning. At present, cleaning robots can perform functions of scrubbing, cleaning with steam, air-cleaning, humidifying, etc.
However, there is a problem with currently available mobile cleaning robots that are available to users who desire a multi-functional cleaning robot, because they can perform merely one or two functions.
If various functions as mentioned above are integrated in a single cleaning robot in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the size and weight of the cleaning robot will need to be larger. As such, the capacitance of a driving motor for the cleaning robot also must become larger, but there is a problem with larger systems in that the manufacturing costs of such a cleaning robot will be greatly increased.
In addition, there is also a problem with such larger, multi-purpose mobile robots in that because a user purchases a multi-functional cleaning robot for performing various functions, an enormous burden of cost will be imposed on the user if the user requires only one or some of the various functions.